Search Results for: blog cultivating a reputation for honesty and integrity

Cultivating a Reputation for Honesty and Integrity

While you may feel and be a person who is honest and trustworthy in your home business, you may not be getting that point across to your clients and customers. There are some communication and body language techniques you can cultivate to let your customers and clients know that you are a trustworthy and honest person of character and someone with whom they can have confidence doing business with: It is important to be direct and honest with customers and clients from the very first interaction. Be careful that you don’t make any promises that you won’t be able to … Continue reading →

Book Review: Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy

A few months ago I finished reading Tony Dungy’s book Quiet Strength. At the time I read the book we were going through a very difficult time with our special needs child, who had just had a very painful surgery and had to be in the hospital for a week. It was encouraging to me to read about a successful man like Tony Dungy, who had struggled himself a lot as a player and a coach, even getting fired from his first job as a head coach. What struck me about the book was how a man who is obviously … Continue reading →

Questioning a Vendor’s Credibility

None of us likes to have our credibility called into question. In fact, this is one of the reasons that I stress the importance of operating your business with honesty and integrity. People may decide that they do not want to do business with you for a variety of reasons, but I think that some reasons are better than others. If someone things that you are dishonest or incapable of doing a decent job—that is quite different from deciding your prices are too high or that you just don’t offer the services they are looking for. As business owners, we … Continue reading →

Be Direct in Your Business Dealings

There is this misconception that good sales means being manipulative and sneaky and “pulling the wool” over someone’s ideas. We think that we need to trick them into making a purchase or gloss things over in order to get someone to come on board as a client. In reality, being direct and honest can get us more clients and customers and can help us build a stronger business reputation. Being direct does not mean that we have to be crass or rude. In fact, we can be gentle and considerate all the while we are being direct. Say it like … Continue reading →

Be Honest with Yourself Too

Many of us feel pretty comfortable with the suggestion that we operate in an honest and direct manner with our customers and clients. In fact, cultivating a reputation for honesty and integrity can be one of your greatest marketing tools as a home business owner. I would like to propose, however, that it is just as important that we be honest with ourselves as we set about building our businesses. Denial can be a great survival tool; as can simply refusing to face the truth or accept what is really going on. But, eventually it is in our best interest … Continue reading →

Follow Up With Proof

If you are making claims and statement in your business marketing (and most of us are), there comes a point when you have to follow those claims and statements up with proof. You are going to have to back up what you say by proving it to the customer if you are going to build your reputation on honesty and follow-through. I don’t necessarily think that the “proof” needs to be dramatic. For example, I tell clients and prospective clients that I am good with deadlines—in fact, I’ve never missed a deadline in my professional work and I am rather … Continue reading →

Are You Respected as a Business Person?

Ah, respect…one of those things we all seem to crave, but it can be hard to tell if we’re actually getting the respect we think we deserve (or that we’ve earned). When it comes to our home businesses, we may feel so self-conscious or be so removed from our customers and clients that we don’t know if we’re respected or not. So, how can you know if your customers, clients and prospects respect you? Well, first it takes some self awareness about whether you are behaving in a respectful manner. Are you honest? Do you follow through on things you … Continue reading →

Using E-mail to Promote Your Business

Since my work background is pretty heavy in marketing and public relations, I have spent a lot of time showing clients how to promote their businesses and organizations. In addition to the obvious, expensive advertising and promotional activities, there are some incredibly cheap and simple ways to get the word out about your home business and one of them is using your e-mail… Now, I’m not talking about SPAM here, or sending unwanted and unappreciated e-mail blasts to all your friends and family. I’m talking about firstly, creating a signature or tag line on the bottom of all your e-mails … Continue reading →